14.9.07
World of Middle-Earth
Finally, I said. Codemasters are letting people try The Lord of the Rings Online. Only for a week, true, but it's better than nothing.
So I go through the whole-day download (almost 7.5 GB of a client) and 30 minutes of installation. But hey, Middle Earth is far away, so I don't mind. I even got a friend to try it with me. It is, after all, a multiplayer game. It is, right?
Wrong. It's a WoW clone. Sure, it's prettier, and it's in Middle Earth, and the Tolkien fans can go visit all these famous places (if one disregards the fact that the entire Eriador seems to be 20 miles across, and that it doesn't look like anything anyone who's read the books would ever imagine). But it's still a single-player game that one plays online. Maybe one does sometimes include another person or three into one's questing and dungeon-crawling, and the crafting system does require cooperation, but it's a single-player game. And while I suppose the quests are, in the light of that, engaging, I don't see why anyone would want to pay the subscription for something one can get with a one-time purchase in an officially single-player package, and without lag and connection problems (I haven't seen any of those, but there are announcements announcing them).
In conclusion, this world did not need another World of Something, but it got one. One which isn't going to take any market share away from the 'original'. They had a chance to make something new, and they blew it. The appeal of 'Middle Earth' might be enough for some, it isn't for me. I'll keep going to Eve for my MMORPG needs, at least it's a real MMORPG.
Oh, and I think LOTRO broke my winsock. But I'd say a half of the blame for that is on Microsoft.
So I go through the whole-day download (almost 7.5 GB of a client) and 30 minutes of installation. But hey, Middle Earth is far away, so I don't mind. I even got a friend to try it with me. It is, after all, a multiplayer game. It is, right?
Wrong. It's a WoW clone. Sure, it's prettier, and it's in Middle Earth, and the Tolkien fans can go visit all these famous places (if one disregards the fact that the entire Eriador seems to be 20 miles across, and that it doesn't look like anything anyone who's read the books would ever imagine). But it's still a single-player game that one plays online. Maybe one does sometimes include another person or three into one's questing and dungeon-crawling, and the crafting system does require cooperation, but it's a single-player game. And while I suppose the quests are, in the light of that, engaging, I don't see why anyone would want to pay the subscription for something one can get with a one-time purchase in an officially single-player package, and without lag and connection problems (I haven't seen any of those, but there are announcements announcing them).
In conclusion, this world did not need another World of Something, but it got one. One which isn't going to take any market share away from the 'original'. They had a chance to make something new, and they blew it. The appeal of 'Middle Earth' might be enough for some, it isn't for me. I'll keep going to Eve for my MMORPG needs, at least it's a real MMORPG.
Oh, and I think LOTRO broke my winsock. But I'd say a half of the blame for that is on Microsoft.
Comments: 1
A reasonable assessment. Unfortunately most of these games don't require grouping until later on in the experience which kind of spoils the whole point of an MMO. Still whatever makes it easier for the ritalin munching console-tards makes it better for the shareholders.
